Just watched Top Gun with the kids.....If it's been asked before forgive me, but to the armed forces pilots here (Jorge,etc.) what was your call sign and how did you get it?

Just watched a clip on the tube about pilots call signs and how they got them (Nasa channel or Smithsonian, can't recall).

Anyway, a pilot was starting to taxi a B1-B Lancer and had a small problem and throttled back down. Unknown to him a ground crew member mistook his intentions and circled on foot behind the aircraft.
The pilot quickly resolved the issue and powered back up, and the powerful thrust from the engines sent the man tumbling down the runway for about 100 yards, tearing up his duty attire and received a good case of road rash, but was not seriously injured.

He was called "Trasher" by everyone after that, and the handle stuck.

That was not an Air Force practice when I was in. In Vietnam, we each had an assigned call sign, but it was unit based. At my first assignment, we all had the call sign Tonto, and I was Tonto 04. At Ban Me Thuot, I was Mike 58. The unit commander always had 01, the ops officer was 02, and so forth. But there were no "cutesy" nicknames. In Training Command, your call sign changed with every flight.

That may have changed, because I now see pilots with nicknames on their flight suit name patches.

Pretty much how Rocky described it back in the day. I do recall that a few wise crackers got creative now and then. Call sign for one of my units was Killer Spade+whatever number you were assigned. Then this black guy showed up and..........he said he didn't need a number. So he was just "Killer Spade".

FWIW, the Vietnamese held the spade graphic and an evil bad luck symbol.

Call signs have been a part of Naval Aviation since WWII (actually since radios were installed on airplanes). It was a great way to "clear six" in combat if there was a bandit on your ass (or a SAMs eventually). Call sings were (are) assigned using a variety of methods, if your last name is "Rowe" for example, odds are your call sign is going to be "Skid" (or if word gets out from the laundry your skivvies had a few "bacon strip" stains on it.). Last name Little? callsign "chicken", etc.

The other method as it was alluded to was for something you did (usually stupid). We had a guy whilst doing preflight on a jet's tail on a carrier, leaned over way too much, lost his balance and went over the side. Callsign "Splash". Lastly, if you had a particularly hideous physical characteristic, that could be used as well.

Hey, speaking of grotesque physical characteristics, that gives me an idea! Let's have a callsign contest for this guy (after all he's god's gift to military aviation):



I'll offer up a free box of ammo to the winner (determined by me of course)...

Shîtbird is my entry.

Don't know who he is, but he's got a resemblance to Buford T...

Draw in a pencil thin mustache, maybe....

Keep em' coming, lads bullets are on me.

Porky or hog as in boss hog, is my entry

Either “Tigger” or “Baloo”, I can’t decide.

Update, here are the prizes offered:
1. 308 150gr Winchester Power Points, Federal Hi-Shoks or Norma Whitetail
2 270 WCF, 130 Winchester Power Points or Remington Core Lockts
3. #006 Springfield: 180 Winchester Power Points

Choose one!

I suppose Burnsie would be too obvious.

kwg

Flameout.

My entry "Giggles"

Fuel truck delivery boy "DOFUS"...

Though it's uncommon for an AF pilot we had a pilot appropriately nicknamed CRASH.
From the story I was told and he never denied it, he was flying a pilot pro, crash and dash. It was supposed to be the last approach, full stop at the end. Crash was having a rough day flying. Seconds before decision height someone said over the intercom "cheer up, this is our last approach". Crash, in the right seat thought he heard "gear up" instinctively reached for the landing gear handle and retracted the gear. Pilot pushed the throttes up to the firewall, forced the nose up but the boom scraped the runway surface. A couple of seconds later they would have trashed my airplane... 🤬

Would this "Crash" bear the surname "Davis," by any chance??

No. Smitter...

Not a military pilot, but my brother was, his call sign was Fats (our last name Alberts)

There was a Cuban in one of his squadrons his was Bobaloo.

Call sign.....Lizzo

Call sign .......Too for

My BIL was a fireman. He worked with a guy named Flash. Not a nickname or call sign. His given name on his birth certificate.

What Burns thinks he is...





What Burns really is...

LOL!!!

Call sign: Prokbelly.

06 for the win.

How about....Buffet1

"Butter"... as in Butter Burns...it sings!

I’m going to have to go with “Gasser”. It’s a perfect description on so many levels.

B&D Burns...
Big and dumb.

LB Burns...
Little Bitch.

"skid mark"

LIKE!

Knight Quell

Tow Dee

“Goober” because someone thought my accent was like that of the character on the Andy Griffith show. 🥜

The squadron also had a tactical call sign that represented your aircraft. For example, in VF-33 the squadron c/s was “Starfighter” So if I was in aircraft #211 a Navy or Air Force controller needed us to turn, etc. he would give a call “Starfighter 211, turn right 270”.

For engaged maneuvering where somebody was about to be attacked, SAM launch, or they needed to do something right now, etc, a personal call sign is most likely going to be used and is usually quicker to get out. In years past it was also found that when an intruder comes on the radio trying to confuse crews, you can recognize that the voice doesn’t belong to your wingman.

When we were working with a controller on the carrier or on one of the ships in the battle group we got to know them, if not from face to face conversations, it was from working the with the same controllers every day. They had their call signs too. One of our really good Midway controllers was “Squiggy” when he came up on the radio we knew it was him by his voice and he knew us. This was before the advent of the newer radios.

A lot of that has changed over the years with the push for “jointness” where the call sign is the specific mission and newer radios that make intrusion harder. With a joint Air Tasking Order a controller in the Awacs or an E-2 can tell what kind of aircraft, what the weapons loadout is, etc. So a flight of two Hornets might have a call sign of Talon and the lead would be “Talon one one” and the wingman would be “Talon one two”. Another flight might be “Talon two one” and wingman “Talon two two”.

Chap11

Po-Zur

You’re entering AND deciding g the winner?

Sheesh!

I've noticed the callsign "RCH" being used for AF aircraft a lot lately. How the hell does that get a pass in this day and age... 🤣

(Female pilot) "Center this is RCH21, requesting permission for a touch and go". RCH21, Center. I don't do red heads... 😛

It's good to be the King... but "Gasser" has the inside track so far

The obvious winner is................



CHEETO !!

Blimpy

Mine was AIDS. A lot of my buds: Krusty, Teefus, Rhino, Gladys, Baddeal, Thumper, Klinger, Trash, Jewfro… the list goes on

How about "Rug"?

Squadron call sign "Soul" plus 3 numbers,, this is Soul 465 over An Khe

The best 4 in the world by far:

Sum Ting Wong
Wi Tu Lo
Ho Lee Fûk
Bang Ding Ow

As Rush would say:
"Doubt me at your own peril!"

Try this next time:

Ho Li Fook

"One Two, this is Two Two, how are you?"*


*Used to hear that a lot from one of our gun pilots.

Cool thread. Thx guys!

I’ll play…

If the last name is a big part of the call sign …

Rug….as in Rug Burns

OK guys, getting close, tough competition betwixt "Rugs" and Cheetos! I'll close out the voting tomorrow at 0800 EST. The winner can PM me with an address were to ship the ammo.

Cheers "General"

Aka "Admiral?"

Sorry mathman, I did not see your post when I posted mine but I will say that great minds think alike……

Nah...

Look up General Funkhauser, a character in James Michener's novel "space"

We didn't have call signs but there were a few nick names. Our squadron commander was called "Black Cloud" due to lightning strikes and a few other incidents. We had a pilot that rode everyone about something they did, and he hit a tail skid one night. So, he was referred to a "Tail skid".

Agreed

I was reading an issue of “Soldier of Fortune” while in the TV room at the SAC Alert Pad. A couple of crew members see me and the next thing I know I am “MERC” after that.

So would this be The Great Googlymoogly?

LOL AJ, very good...

Asshat

Don't flatter yourself fat ass, it's not a good thing.

How many hours per day, on average, do I live in your head?

What's the matter tubby, brain too addled by the overdosing of NyQuil and gin to come up with any fresh material? Same weak ass and tired ol memes, such a bore.....

Gaydar......

Pronounced Reach. Standard AMC callsign for tasked missions.

Think very small unit of measure.
Carpet and drapes

👌
Guess they never heard the other term those letters resemble... 🤣

Cr@p, we had to quit using the term "red ball" when I was still in because they started to populate the flightline with females.

Hey J...haven't seen it yet and you may like it...as a phrase..."A Hole" you know like Burns a hole (in your pocket)...but its okay as a stand alone too !

Blondes (true blondes...) are finer. 😁

It's not that I don't trust you.......I should probably do my own research.

I thought everyone knew RCH was a very precise unit of measure

I'm a gonna have to verify your measurements on the red head, I'll collect my own samples... 😛
Though I'm willing to bet that one has hardwood floors. 😎

There's a tongue an groove joke in here.

🤣🤣🤣

for Burns…. Call sign Jabba

Nyquil.

Not bad...but that inspires football think: "Hut One!"

Looks like “CHESTER” as in Chester The Molester.

3 of my best friends were AF pilots, one had the last name of Sawtelle, he went by Sawdog, one's last name was Grady, he went by G Dog, the other one was Tank, I won't reveal why that was his call sign.🤣

As if it isn't obvious...
"T. Rex"

Had to file it as Teerex for ATC purposes since punctuation isn't allowed in flight callsigns and Trex often got misspoken as the single syllable "trecks" by ATC.

WRT Mr. Burns, "Jabba" is taken by another Viper driver. "Rug" would be a classic at any fighter naming ceremony (as would "Peter" - subtle STD reference). Inuendo is consistent with historical trends. The first female Viper driver in my squadron had the callsign "Mounds." Because "...Almond Joy's got nuts, Mounds don't." Thick skins used to be a requirement in our business. Not anymore, I hear.

Cheers,
Rex

Roger that. In a fighter squadron, you only worried if no one was picking on you 😁!

LOL.

Get that check for dinner once in a while.

And here we have crash & burns, the 8^ műthafűcker...

Crashin'. That's got to be the winner.

Lmao LRoy......this thread has turned into way more than I could have imagined 🤘🏻

How about Cartman?

Throat... that is my pick.

I can't speak to cool call signs. Twenty years ago my peers gave me the sign, Nutz.

Personally I've been Pugs since VT-10 after flying the T-2.

Squadron callsigns were a few and as was pointed out they need to be 6 characters for ATC however at the ship the could be longer.

Rocket - VT-86
Eagle - VAQ-129, although they are now Puget I understand
Outlaw - VAQ-141, but we were Desperado around the boat
Wisky - VAQ-35 (chosen by the first CO, "Whiskey" Bob Hamilton)
Axeman - VAQ-309
Cobra - VAQ-209
Misty - VX-9 (and VX-5 prior)

OK, it was tough lads, but I've decided on TWO winners, Cheeto and Rugs. Will those parties please PM me your names, addresses and choice of ammo and I'll get them in the mail on Monday. Congratulations..

Would it be possible to substitute 22LR for them, and give to a campfire youngster ? Thank you !

Side question: can I special order a McMillan stock in green/Cheeto's Orange tiger stripes?? Asking for a WyoArms friend.....

Sure, PM me what you want/

WHOMP

Lolololololol

Top

Most pilots with the last name Johnson usually get ‘Big Harry’ as a call sign.

C/S Asshat

I'm going for "Dough Boy."